Cost of switching to renewable energy source worth it
Electric company's wind energy program should not be ignored
Janelle Gergen
Issue date: 10/22/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion
With the looming energy crisis and increasing awareness of environmental concerns, countries around the world are looking for alternate sources of energy. One of the frontrunners on the list of solutions is the energy of the wind.
As of 2008, the total global wind power capacity was over 120,000 megawatts, with the United States as the country with the highest capacity, according to The American Wind Energy Association Annual Wind Industry Report. About 1.5 percent of the energy produced worldwide comes from wind turbines.
You may know that wind turbines have been going up in Minnesota for a few years now, as well as in North Dakota and South Dakota. In fact, Xcel Energy has created a total of 1,300 megawatts of wind energy capacity in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota combined, according to the company's Web site.
What a lot of people don't know, however, is that Xcel has started a wind energy program here in Wisconsin as well.
The program is called Windsource and is available for a small fee each month. Through the program, wind energy is sold in blocks of 100-kilowatt-hours (KWh). Xcel's Web site lists the average home usage as between 600 and 1,000 KWh a month. My boyfriend and I, in our one-bedroom apartment, use a lot less than that - between 200 and 300 KWh a month.
The Windsource program is extremely flexible. Xcel customers sign up for between one and nine blocks a month, at $1.15 a piece. The number of blocks chosen depends on their typical power usage and how much they wish to contribute to the program. Alternatively, for a little over $10 a month, they can sign up to be 100 percent Windsource supporters, and all the energy they use will come through the program.
The extra fee is simply added on to the monthly energy bill, and if a customer signs up for more blocks than he or she actually uses, Xcel will only charge for the amount used. That means that my boyfriend and I, although we initially signed up for five blocks, pay about $3 a month to have our entire apartment powered by wind turbines.
As of 2008, the total global wind power capacity was over 120,000 megawatts, with the United States as the country with the highest capacity, according to The American Wind Energy Association Annual Wind Industry Report. About 1.5 percent of the energy produced worldwide comes from wind turbines.
You may know that wind turbines have been going up in Minnesota for a few years now, as well as in North Dakota and South Dakota. In fact, Xcel Energy has created a total of 1,300 megawatts of wind energy capacity in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota combined, according to the company's Web site.
What a lot of people don't know, however, is that Xcel has started a wind energy program here in Wisconsin as well.
The program is called Windsource and is available for a small fee each month. Through the program, wind energy is sold in blocks of 100-kilowatt-hours (KWh). Xcel's Web site lists the average home usage as between 600 and 1,000 KWh a month. My boyfriend and I, in our one-bedroom apartment, use a lot less than that - between 200 and 300 KWh a month.
The Windsource program is extremely flexible. Xcel customers sign up for between one and nine blocks a month, at $1.15 a piece. The number of blocks chosen depends on their typical power usage and how much they wish to contribute to the program. Alternatively, for a little over $10 a month, they can sign up to be 100 percent Windsource supporters, and all the energy they use will come through the program.
The extra fee is simply added on to the monthly energy bill, and if a customer signs up for more blocks than he or she actually uses, Xcel will only charge for the amount used. That means that my boyfriend and I, although we initially signed up for five blocks, pay about $3 a month to have our entire apartment powered by wind turbines.
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